Bleacher structures have been used for many years to hold spectators at sporting events, meetings, etc. In the case of bleachers that can be readily assembled and disassembled there has always been a problem of handling the weight of the components of the structure and the expense of assembling and disassembling the structure. Because of the necessity of making a structure strong enough and rigid enough to hold spectators it has normally been found desirable to use heavy components and to securely bolt such components into place. In more recent times it has been found that extruded metal shapes that are light in weight and yet are strong can be employed for these structures. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,011,695 there is disclosed a structure employing channel beams, circular posts, and extruded channel beam shapes as the seats and footrests of the structure. The seats in the footrest are identical extruded shapes but are assembled in different ways when used as a footrest than when used as a seat.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,345,406 there is disclosed an improved design wherein the seatrests are of a different design than the footrests although both employ fastening means comprising hook members on the seats and the footrests to snap lock into place in cooperating holes in the upright posts and in the crossbeams of the structure, thus eliminating the neccessity for using bolts in many attachment locations. The present invention is designed to be an improvement over the structure in U.S. Pat. No. 4,345,406. In replacing the fastening means involving hook members that snap lock into place by the combination of a tab in the crossbeam to hold one edge of the seat or footrest in place and a clip to be bolted to the crossbeam to hold the other portion of the seat or footrest in place. One of the advantages of the present system is that both the seat and the footrest are of identical construction and thus there is no need to be concerned about which channel beam is to be employed as a footrest and which one is employed as a seat. It is also an object of this invention to provide a novel bleacher structure system which is readily assembled and which is light in weight. It is still another object to provide seats and footrests that have no cuts or notches that might weaken the structure and to have tight connections at each point. Still other objects will be apparent from the more detailed description of the invention which follows.